SOUND ON SOUND

[Arpangel]

Thing to remember about the Kurzweil Forte (or PC4) is that, while the factory programs are very good, if you ask him very nicely, Dave Weiser will give you his versions of the pianos/electric pianos which are supposed to be just that bit better. Might be worth checking it out if you are seriously considering one ..

https://www.weisersound.com/

Thanks, I was actually surprised at how good it sounds, I’ve never looked at Kurzweil before.

[Dave B]

Where Kurzweil traditionally scored highly was not the sheer number of multi-samples that they used, but the fact that they managed to get such a playable and musical sound out of so few. Or, as the people in the know (like Zukan) will tell you, proper sound design rather than relying on a zillion iffy samples.

Years ago, I was chatting to a producer / keys player who had his Roland S760 library handy about this very subject. He then loaded up a patch and played the theme for 'Taxi' on it - sounded lovely and really earthy Rhodes sounding. He then proceeded to blow my mind by telling me that that patch only used 2Mb of samples .....

Ever since then, I've privately chuckled at some of the sample banks I've come across. :D

[Martin Walker]

He then proceeded to blow my mind by telling me that that patch only used 2Mb of samples .....

Ever since then, I've privately chuckled at some of the sample banks I've come across. :D

A man after my own heart - I even wrote about poor sampling practices in this SOS 'Sounding Off':

https://www.soundonsound.com/people/sou ... tin-walker


Martin

[resistorman]

I know you’ve been thinking about this a long time and there have been a lot of posts but I can’t recall if you’ve ever played any of the proposed instruments through an actual amplifier as opposed to a sim. It makes a huge difference, and I’d bet many of the recordings you like were recorded micing speaker cabinets. My favorite sound back in the day came from a Fender Super Reverb.

[Arpangel]

I know you’ve been thinking about this a long time and there have been a lot of posts but I can’t recall if you’ve ever played any of the proposed instruments through an actual amplifier as opposed to a sim. It makes a huge difference, and I’d bet many of the recordings you like were recorded micing speaker cabinets. My favorite sound back in the day came from a Fender Super Reverb.

You are right, an amp is essential, I would do that anyway, I’ve got a small Roland Cube, but it doesn’t cut it, it just sounds small, you have to have something big with a bit of presence.
I do believe Fender to be a favourite, something valve, I think Rick Wakeman's choice was a Fender Dual Showman.
But by the time say, I’ve bought that Forte, or any of the other electronic jobs, and then got a good amp, I’m up to the cost, if not more, of a real Rhodes.
I’m looking at bass amps, they seem a better bet for Rhodes, synth, from what I’ve read.